Pages

19 January 2016

Royal Portraits of the Day: January 19

For the Silver Jubilee, the Norwegian royal court released a slew of new official pictures of the royal family, and the jewels are abundant. (To see them all in HQ, click here. All portraits: Jørgen Gomnæs / Det kongelige hoff.)

Even Princess Ingrid Alexandra got in on the family sparkle. For this
charming shot of the line of succession, she wears a ruby and diamond
heart pendant that was a christening gift from her grandmother, Queen
Sonja. Sonja wore it herself, and may have received it as a gift from Harald when Haakon was born. Mette-Marit has also worn the pendant. (Kjell Arne Totland's blog explains that Sonja decoupaged the jewelry case herself - a technique she apparently learned from Queen Margrethe. Queenly craft night, anyone?!) Ingrid Alexandra has worn it on several occasions, and I love that she already has a little piece of family jewelry to wear.

One set of portraits captures Queen Sonja in a flattering dress (coordinated with King Harald's tie, natch) and one of her favorite suites of jewelry, a set of oxidized silver pieces by Norwegian artist Gine Sommerfelt.

Only the family emeralds would do for the formal portraits, obviously. I appreciate how often she uses the entire parure, and the softer shade of her repeated dress is a nice bridge between the red of her decorations and the intense green of her emeralds.

The official photos came with a special treat in the tiara department: Crown Princess Mette-Marit sporting both of her tiaras. She added some purple to her repeated Pucci white gown (love, and love) and shook up the placement of the Amethyst Necklace Tiara Parure by using the center of the necklace as a brooch and wearing only the studs of the earrings. This just means she needs an even bigger amethyst brooch to play with.

The Diamond Daisy Tiara came
out for another shot, paired with the chandelier earrings she received
as a wedding gift (they were originally a gift from the future King Olav
V to his wife, Märtha, for their silver wedding anniversary, but she
sadly she died of cancer before she got to wear them). Her beautiful
aquamarine and diamond brooch has been worn several times and has the look of an antique,
though I don't believe its provenance has been identified. This is also another look at the Nina Skarra dress she remodeled in 2014, with a new top to remove the original one-shoulder look.

And a little bit of Valentino for the road, in the crown princely couple's more casual portraits. This hot pink number is interesting, and I'll be looking for it in action in the future.